While Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy tested the waters by claiming that power tariff hike was inevitable a few days ago and the AP Electricity Regulatory Commission doing the rest, it’s time for the opposition parties to hit the streets.
The state government has erred in its judgment and lacked the foresight in reading the gas and coal shortage two years ago and the opposition parties are behaving in an irresponsible manner instead of finding a solution to the issue.
The Chief Minister did nothing except leading Congress MPs from the state to the Centre and writing letters to the Union Ministers seeking additional coal and power supply.
On their part, had the 30 Congress MPs from the state put up the same spirited fight, like they did for and against Telangana, and exerted pressure on the party leadership in seeking an everlasting solution to the problem, the situation would have been much different.
The Telugu Desam has nearly dozen MPs in the Parliament and they could have ruckus in both the Houses and got credit for making the Centre see reason but still, they want to blame the Congress.
Telugu Desam president N Chandrababu Naidu undertook day-long fast at Kakinada while the Communist parties have staged protests all over the strike over power tariff hike on Monday, which is a prelude to the AP bandh call given by them on April 9.
The Communists opposed setting up of new power plants in the state but want nine hour free power supply to the agricultural sector, no hike in power charges and no collection of fuel surcharge from the consumers. The only way to satisfy them is that the state government needs a magic wand or Alladdin’s lamp.
MIM leader Akbaruddin Owaisi condemns the power tariff hike but why doesn’t he tell the people in the old city, where his party holds the sway, to pay power bills regularly? Even the staff is not allowed inside the houses and illegal tapping of power is a common thing in certain areas in the walled city.
Union Minister K Chiranjeevi will be the first in queue to write letter to his Cabinet colleague Ghulam Nabi Azad expressing his unhappiness over power tariff hike while other Union Ministers expressed concern in private.
Why he did not write similar letters to Union Power Minister Jyothiraditya Scindia and Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Veerappa Moily seeking additional gas and power for the state in the past?
Chiranjeevi has been aware of the problem much before he became Rajya Sabha member and his subsequent elevation as Union Minister and writing a letter to Azad is nothing but hypocrisy and only for cheap publicity.
Another senior leader V Hanumantha Rao demanded that the Chief Minister should have discussed the issue with party leaders in Gandhi Bhavan as it was election year.
Will it be OK for him if the government increases the charges after elections and perhaps even the APERC officials to such meeting and direct them not to hike charges till the elections are over.
The Member of Parliament should enlighten the entire state about his feelings and he would do if he was the chief minister.
Now the Chief Minister says he would review the hike in power tariff after his three day visit to Nellore district and take a final decision by April 5. He should have done this exercise much earlier to avoid the present day’s scenario.
Senior BJP leader M Venkaiah Naidu, who has been elected to Rajya Sabha from Karnataka, finds fault with the Congress for its lack of planning but he can also help the state to tide over the crisis by requesting the BJP government in Karnataka to release water from Almatti dam.
APCC Chief Botcha Satyanarayana said that though the Congress did not make any promise to increase power charges in its election manifesto in 2009, the government will bear the power charges of the poor and middle class consumers.
What is puzzling is that he should have requested the Chief Minister to direct the power utilities not to put up any such proposals to the APERC three months ago instead of shedding tears now.
The new-born YSR Congress too is critical of the power tariff hike and promises to implement the promises made by late chief minister Dr Y S Rajasekhara Reddy after coming to power in the state. But still there is one year to go and no one what lies in future for them and the harassed consumers.
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